Israel complies with evacuation order with air strikes on the “security zone” in the Gaza Strip | Gaza News

According to reports, at least 16 people have died and numerous injured people are being taken to hospitals.

Shortly after Israel’s military ordered residents to leave the area previously designated as a humanitarian zone, it launched artillery and air strikes on eastern Khan Younis.

The wave of attacks early Monday morning came less than an hour after the evacuation order was issued. At least 30 people were killed, according to Gaza health authorities.

For the enclave’s population, largely displaced and in desperate need of shelter and food, finding safety is becoming increasingly difficult as Israel’s bombing has forced them into ever-shrinking “safe zones.”

The military on Monday called on the population to leave areas such as the eastern part of the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip and said an operation was planned following a rocket attack on Israel.

“People did not even have the opportunity to evacuate,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reported from the central city of Deir el-Balah. “Israeli forces began their air strikes and artillery shelling in eastern Khan Younis shortly after dropping leaflets calling for evacuation.”

She pointed out that Khan Younis’ only functioning hospital, the Nasser Medical Complex, was flooded with victims and doctors were asking for blood donations.

The Israeli military said the renewed attacks on the area, which it had repeatedly invaded during the war, were a response to Hamas operations.

In a post on X, the Israeli military accused Hamas of using civilians in the eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis as “human shields” and turning the area into a danger zone.

Residents, many of whom have already been displaced several times, were asked to flee “immediately” further west to the al-Mawasi evacuation zone.

Due to significant terrorist activities and rocket fire at the State of Israel from the eastern part of the humanitarian zone in Gaza, staying in this area has become dangerous. Accordingly, the humanitarian zones are currently being adjusted. The adjustment is taking place… pic.twitter.com/bk5GGNXn6M

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 22, 2024

According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, the order affects more than 400,000 people.

Al-Mawasi is also not immune to attacks. Earlier this month, the area was hit by a massive airstrike that killed over 90 civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

According to the Israeli military, the attack was directed against senior Hamas commanders. People seeking shelter in the area described it as a “brutal massacre” that left women and children in pieces and scattered on the tent floors.

“People feel like the Israelis are playing a chess game with them, they are being taken from one place to another and no place is safe,” says Khoudary.

Israel’s wave of attacks in eastern Khan Younis comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travels to Washington to address the U.S. Congress, which has approved billions of dollars in military aid to Israel for the duration of the war.

Netanyahu also said Israeli negotiators were preparing to resume stalled prisoner exchange talks on Thursday.

Since the war began, Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed 38,983 people and injured nearly 90,000, the vast majority of them civilians, while leaving much of the enclave in ruins. (There is no breakdown of civilian and non-civilian casualties; consider removing the non-bold part.)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Israel must take steps to prevent civilian casualties and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. However, Israel rejects the court’s ruling.